By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Parliament has elected Makashule Gana to head a multiparty panel that will hold an impeachment inquiry into President Cyril Ramaphosa’s handling of a robbery at his Phala Phala game farm.
The 31-member impeachment committee met for the first time on Monday, 01 June 2026, to elect its chairperson.
Parliament’s newly established committee will reassess the Phala Phala report and scrutinise allegations against Ramaphosa.
The committee was established following a Constitutional Court judgment directing Parliament to determine whether sufficient grounds exist to recommend Ramaphosa’s removal from office over the theft of more than $580,000 from his Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo in 2020.
The opposition parties met in Parliament earlier to reach consensus on who they will nominate to steer the committee.
The so-called Progressive Caucus, comprising the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), African Transformation Movement (ATM) and United Africans Transformation (UAT), was determined to challenge the African National Congress (ANC) to chair the committee.
Collectively, the Progressive Caucus only has six seats on the 31-member committee, which was a tough challenge against the 20 members that make up the Government of National Unity (GNU).
Gana won the vote against United Africans Transformation’s Wonderboy Mahlatsi by 19 votes to 12.
African National Congress (ANC) MP Mikateko Mahlaule nominated Gana for the position, while Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) MP Omphile Maotwe nominated Mahlatsi on behalf of the Progressive Caucus.
Gana’s nomination was supported by the ANC, DA, Patriotic Alliance (PA) and Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus), while the EFF, MK Party, ActionSA, National Coloured Congress (NCC), Build One South Africa (BOSA), ATM and United Traditional Alliance (UTA) opposed it.
Mahlatsi received backing from the EFF, MK Party, ActionSA, BOSA, ATM and UTA, while the ANC, DA, FF Plus and PA voted against his nomination.
The committee’s work is “now in progress,” Gana, a member of the Rise Mzansi party, told parliament in Cape Town on Monday.
Gana said it was important that this committee was not chaired by the ANC.
“Just for people’s trust in the process, that you have someone who’s not in the ANC or the DA,” Gana said. “So for me, it was to get someone who’s not in the bigger parties. I appreciate the support.”
The ANC has the largest allocation, with nine seats, followed by the DA with five representatives. The MK Party has three members, while the EFF has been allocated two seats.
Parliament meanwhile is still taking legal advice on how to respond to Ramaphosa’s legal challenge to the independent panel report. The president has officially filed papers in the Western Cape High Court.